Anthony Horowitz, the novelist behind the Bond books Trigger Mortis and Forever and a Day, has weighed in on Daniel Craig’s sendoff in No Time to Die. He said the filmmakers made a mistake in killing the character, even though Bond will inevitably return under a new actor with Amazon MGM Studios now overseeing the franchise.
The film marked Craig’s final appearance as 007 and cemented its place in history as the first entry in the series to kill James Bond on screen. Many fans expected a last-minute escape for the spy who always survives, but director Cary Fukunaga did not take that route. Unlike previous cliffhangers and narrow getaways in Bond films, this time the character did not make it out alive.
Speaking to Radio Times, Horowitz said he doubts the decision helped the series.
“The last time we saw Bond (in 2021’s No Time to Die) he was poisoned and blown to smithereens – how will they get past the fact he is dead with a capital D? I think that was a mistake, because Bond is a legend. He belongs to everybody, he is eternal – except in that film. If I was asked tomorrow to write the script, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Where would you start? You can’t have him waking up in the shower and saying it was all a dream.”
Death normally shuts the door on a character, but James Bond has never operated under ordinary rules. Each time a new actor steps in, the films carry on without much explanation. Sean Connery’s Bond gave way to Roger Moore, and later Pierce Brosnan’s version slid into Craig’s grittier portrayal. The series has long used reboot logic, reshaping Bond while keeping key supporting players like M or Moneypenny intact across different timelines.
Craig’s first turn in Casino Royale was itself a reset. The film stripped away the lighter tone of earlier years and presented Bond as a harder, more serious figure. It ended only after Craig was able to introduce himself with the iconic line “Bond, James Bond,” framing the movie as a starting point for a new direction. Even villains recycled. Spectre brought back Blofeld, played by Christoph Waltz, despite the fact he had been the central enemy in Sean Connery’s era decades before.
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That pattern makes Craig’s on-screen death a closed chapter only for his run, not an endpoint for the brand. The next film will present another 007, and history suggests continuity will bend as much as necessary. Horowitz’s criticism highlights the awkwardness of killing a character the public has never been asked to believe could actually die. Craig’s No Time to Die may go down as the conclusion of one era, but audiences are already being prepared for the launch of another.
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